Gnabry was among the players who trained with the squad at Säbener Straße on Monday 10 August, as Bayern entered the final phase of pre-season under head coach Vincent Kompany. He had stayed in Munich while the rest of the squad played Jeju SK FC and Aston Villa on the Audi Summer Tour.
The 31-year-old had already been running, doing mobility work and hitting balls under fitness and rehab coach Simon Martinello at Säbener Straße in late June, a step-by-step comeback that has taken most of Bayern’s summer.
The April injury that took his World Cup
The injury landed in a shooting drill in mid-April, between the Champions League semi-final at Real Madrid and the Bundesliga trip to Stuttgart. Bayern’s medical staff diagnosed a torn adductor in his right thigh, and the club ruled him out for “a lengthy period” that swallowed Bayern’s season run-in and the Germany squad for the summer.
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It was the third major international tournament Gnabry has watched from a sofa, after the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2024.
The February extension
The context that makes this season different is a piece of business Bayern had already put to bed. Gnabry signed an extension in February that ties him to the club until 2028, months before the injury forced him out of the Germany squad.
Before he broke down, he had contributed eight goals and six assists in 21 Bundesliga appearances as Bayern secured back-to-back titles under Kompany.
Speaking about his recovery in July, Gnabry made no attempt to hide the grind of long rehab.
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“I miss the lads, team training, the intensity when the ball is involved,” he said.
“I keep reminding myself: you’re doing all this to be able to play again. You’ve got to push through it today.”
“I feel very good because I can feel I’m making progress with every session.”
Dortmund first, then Stuttgart
The next markers on Kompany’s calendar are hard dates. Bayern face Borussia Dortmund in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday 22 August, with kick-off scheduled for 8:30pm local time. The Bundesliga title defence begins six days later at home to VfB Stuttgart.
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Neither Bayern nor Kompany has publicly committed to a return date for Gnabry. His individual work has been dialled up alongside team sessions rather than replaced by them, and Bayern’s competitive schedule kicks in inside a week.
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